1. Field of Invention
The current invention relates generally to apparatus, systems and methods for computer networking. More particularly, the apparatus, systems and methods relate to connecting a mobile device to a computer network. Specifically, the apparatus, systems and methods provide for looking at two or more possible links to connect to and how to select the optimal link to connect with.
2. Description of Related Art
Many discovery techniques exist to find a node within a radio network. A common approach is to use an omni radio link. However, to cover the maximum range (distance) with bursty discovery packets, it is necessary to allocate substantial size, weight and power (SWAP). A radio considered for such a purpose is Link 16. By contrast, an Iridium Short Burst Data (SBD) radio consumes a fraction of the SWAP of a discovery radio such as Link 16. An alternate set of discovery techniques utilize the directional links themselves for discovery. But for narrow beam systems, a very large number of tiles must be searched repeatedly on a regular basis, even if no node is there to link with. This results in substantial resources being wasted on the directional link. A need, therefore, exists for improved discovery and acquisition methods for use in directional networking.